All users can now access Facebook’s tool for controlling which apps and sites can share data for ad-targeting
By Sara Shaw • January 28, 2020
Facebook is making available to all users worldwide its “Off-Facebook Activity” tool, which allows users to manage and delete the data that third-party websites and apps share with Facebook. This feature’s existence is a direct result of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal, which compromised the data of up to 87 million Facebook users by way of a Facebook app.
As Facebook explains today, other businesses send Facebook information about your activity on their sites and apps, which Facebook then uses to show you relevant ads. With the new Off-Facebook Activity tool, you can see a summary of that information and clear it from your account.
The Off-Facebook Activity tool will offer a clear summary of which apps and sites have collected data, how Facebook received the information, how many interactions (logging in, searching, purchases, etc.) it has received and more. It does not stop the third-parties from future data-sharing.